talesofdestinyfandomcom-20200213-history
History of Heironeous/Chapter 1
Heironeous, Hextor and Stratis are born unto Stern Alia - Heironeous and Hextor charged to guard her armoury, which they delegate to Savnok - Savnok steals the armour of Stern Alia and builds an empire - Heironeous and Hextor forced to slay Savnok to retrieve the armour - Hextor persuades Hieroneous to conceal their misdeeds #And unto Stern Alia, goddess of culture and law in the times of old, were born three sons of three fathers, and the eldest of these was Heironeous, and the second was Hextor, and the third was Stratis. #And on the day that Heironeous was born, Alia anointed him with meersalm, that his skin could be pierced not by mortal weapons, neither could fire nor lightning nor any thing of mortal make harm him. #But on the day that Hextor was born, there was no more meersalm, and so he was anointed not, and on the day that Stratis was born, there was no more, and so he was anointed not. #And unto Heironeous was given the power of lightning, and the control thereof, that he might cast it at his enemies, but unto Hextor and Stratis was given no gift. #And when they were young, it came to pass that Alia went out unto her lovers, and tarried with them, and saith unto Heironeous and Hextor, for Stratis was yet a babe, Guardeth ye the gates of mine armoury, and permit none to enter, yea, neither god, nor mortal, nor ye yourselves shall pass within. #And Heironeous and Hextor accepted the commands of their mother, and stood guard before the gates of her armoury, and permitted none to enter. #And it came to pass that Savnok, their servant, came unto them, saying, Behold, I shall guard the gates of thy mother's armoury, that ye may go forth and do many righteous deeds, and bring glory to yourselves. #And Heironeous and Hextor were young, and the thought of glory burned within them, and they bound Savnok by fierce oaths that he would let none pass within the gates of the armoury, neither god nor mortal would he permit to pass. #And Savnok swore these things unto Heironeous and Hextor that day, but he kept not his oath, and as soon as Heironeous and Hextor had passed out of the place where the armoury stood, Savnok opened the gates of the armory, and passed through them, and beheld wonders of fine worksmanship, even swords and bows and all the instruments of war. #And Savnok beheld the armour of Stern Alia, and saw that it was great, yea, and marvelous to behold, and he was tempted, and fell unto his temptation, and donned the armour of Stern Alia. #And when he donned the armour of Stern Alia, the power of the armour flowed into him, and he knew of its power, that the bearer was immortal, yea, that he would not age, nor could poisons nor fire nor cold nor lightning nor any thing harm him, nor the weapons of mortals could harm him, because he wore the armour of Stern Alia. #And Savnok passed out of the armoury of Stern Alia, and went unto the world of men, and created him there an empire, for none could stand before him. #And after time had passed, Heironeous spake unto his half-brother, saying, Let us go unto our mother's armoury, for perchance Savnok tires of his post, which is our responsibility, and they returned unto the armoury. #And they beheld that the doors thereof were opened, and they passed within the gates, and saw that the armour of their mother was gone, and they knew what had happened. #And Heironeous said unto his half-brother, Let us go even now unto our mother, and confess unto her our weakness, that she may go and take back her armour, lest Savnok build unto himself an empire. #And Hextor replied unto him, saying, Which is greater, to confess a mistake, or to make resititution? #And Heironeous replied, To make resititution is greater, provided that confession is not avoided thereby. #And Hextor replied, saying, Let us go down unto the world of men, and take back the armour of our mother, and then we shall confess, and we shall have done right in this thing, and so they did go down unto the world of men. #And behold, Savnok was in the midst of his empire, which he had created, and the empire was cruel, that the people did rebel. #And yet their just rebellion was for naught, for none could harm Savnok for he wore the armour of Stern Alia. #And Heironeous and Hextor came upon him, and Heironeous took of the lightning of the clouds, and cast it at Savnok, but the lightning that was the gift of Heironeous had not any effect upon Savnok, for he wore the armour of Stern Alia. #And when Hextor saw that the lightning of Heironeous had no effect, neither the sword of Heironeous, he fled back to the armoury of their mother, and broke open the gates, and took of the great bow of his mother, and came again unto the world of men. #And Hextor in those times had only two arms, yea, and Stratis also, and with all his strength did he bend the limbs of the bow, and fire an arrow at Savnok. #And when an arrow was loosed from the bow of Stern Alia, behold, twelve arrows appeared, and all struck their target. #And the arrows hit, and pierced the armour, and Savnok was wounded. #And through all that day, and all that night, Savnok duelled with Heironeous, blade on blade, while Hextor shot the arrows of his mother and Savnok, bleeding him slowly, that Savnok died. #And Heironeous and Hextor took the armour of their mother, and her bow and her arrows, and fled back to the armoury of their mother, and placed all things as they were, and closed again the doors of the armoury, and pondered what they should do. #And Hextor spake, saying, My brother, hear me, we shall do no service to any by confessing this day, for behold, the honour of Savnok, who has served us, shall be spoiled, yea, and mine honour, and thine also, for we didst not only abandon our post, but yea, we have broken into the armoury of our mother, and therefore, I say unto thee, let us keep silence, and speak not of this thing unto our mother, for behold, I am not as strong as thee, and I broke open the gates, and our mother shall punish me, and I fear her punishment. #And Heironeous was sore ashamed, but kept silence that Hextor might be spared the punishment of their mother, and was ashamed further thereby. Commentary The first chapter of the History introduces Heironeous, as well as his mother and two half-brothers. Heironeous' gifts of meersalm and the power over lightning are spelled out, as are the poorer estates of his half-brothers. The remainder of the chapter discusses the crime of Savnok, who was a servant to Heironeous and Hextor, and the steps the half-brothers took to recover from his sins. Category:History of Heironeous